Jimquisition: Launch Splooge

[Lightknight]

I'm surprised. For the first Jimquisition I can personally think of there wasn't anything controversial discussed (unless you count the gay jokes). This was a straight up solid point that hasn't ever really been worded well before.

I hardly call any man being attracted to Angel a gay joke. That's only natural...

 

[ars731]

Jim Sterling for president in 2016

 

[Xan Krieger]

I think the reason nobody thanks Jim for the repeal of DOMA is because not everyone supported DOMA being repealed. Some of us are probably even hoping the law comes back in a few years after another court case.

 

[Stalydan]

I have to agree, and that's why I'm (kind of) pleased by Sony and Microsoft's statements in the picture below

It's not necessarily saying "OH LOOK AT WHAT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO BUY STRAIGHT AWAY!!" but more, "Yes, there are a few games worth checking out on launch day, and there'll be more throughout the year"

Now, of course, the quality of some of these titles may end up not living up to expectations, but at least they aren't all splooged out in one quick overload.

Of course what that list leaves out is the multiplatform games coming out during the launch period like Watch Dogs and CoD: Ghosts.

I think a good launch line up should be around 7 to 10 games. Not limiting the choice of content people can get (Not everybody is going to want Knack or DriveClub) but still holding back on enough games that a strong library can be built in the months after release.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

What gets me is why they can't just learn from what made previous consoles successful. Like why did the PS2 sell so well? Maybe we should find out and do more of that?
Anyway, I'd much rather have a lineup of good games spread out along a consoles run rather than a whole bunch of shit games spooged out all at once.

 

[sixthcircle]

wow - i read a good way down in the comments and there wasn't a single church basement dwelling hate-monger to be found. this IS the internet right? i'm in the right place aren't i? anyway i suppose that speaks volumes to the caliber of fan you have garnered my good man.

 

[Deacon Cole]

Haven't they pushed themselves into this corner though? Sony with the PS3 abandoned backward compatibility (well, not ENTIRELY, but close enough) meaning that with the exception of launch titles, you had no games to play if you went out and purchased the console on launch day. MS did a little better with the Xbox 360, but still only had backward compatibility for the more popular titles (and even then with problems from what I understand).

But with both the Sony and MS refusing to allow you to keep your existing library (assuming that you trade-in your current system in favor of the newest one, which considering the economy will likely be at least, what, 50% of all launch time purchases?), there would be a twisted logic in thinking that the only way to do that would be to give you a huge launch day library to ease the pain for you - as opposed to making you remember that you traded in the 20-30 titles you had for your old system for your new console and one or two games.

Of course they could have done the better idea and included backward compatibility...but then users might have not splurged on a ton of titles in the first year of having their new shiny console, and where's the profit in that?

Bitter? You bet I am.

Pretty much this. It's not like these new consoles are from companies new to making consoles or that video games are a brand new thing in the first place. They spent the last five years or so building a fan base while that base built a library. Abandoning backwards compatibility no only means alienation previous customers but reducing the value to existing customers. At this point, only the most strapped for cash will consider the new, discounted PS3 or 360 when there's a new console generation upon us. Those who don't already have a game from the previous generation will look to see what games they'd missed. This has been what nintendo has don with their handhelds since the original Gameboy. make it backwards compatible with the previous generation and that will beef up your launch line-up until the third party support shows up.

 

[masticina]

Oh you mean spreading out the games. Well yes that would be lovely. Lets be fair so many games want to be around precise the same time of year. That is without console launches. If a console launches oh my.. then such is even worse!

And no I don't have money to buy every darn game in november.

Hey we can wait right?

 

[Adon Cabre]

[HEADING=1]Stragegos[/HEADING]

According to Jim,
I shouldn't even know about this game, since it ain't happenin' for a while.
A game that certainly hyped me up for SONY future. Nonsensical.

[HEADING=3]List of 2013 Launch Titles?[/HEADING]
There are like 3 launch exclusives set for SONY, and about the same for Microsoft, which Jim knows, so this argument doesn't even make sense! Three (SONY Exclusives) + four (3rd Party Titles) for Nov - Dec? Sounds perfectly reasonable.

And Wii U had the opposite problem, so what is Jim blabbering about?

[HEADING=3]E3[/HEADING]

E3 is the largest event in the industry for press, online-viewership, etc... It would be incredibly foolish for any console, publisher or developer to withhold content about a game in development. They need the public's support: some viewers will subscribe to developer twitter feeds for games that they liked, others will bookmark title-sites -- this Industry needs a consistent following of fans, who will maintain interest over the next year.

[HEADING=3]Jim is spouting off on a crisis that doesn't even exist.[/HEADING]

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Thank you for repealing DOMA, Jim

 

[mike1921]

[HEADING=1]Stragegos[/HEADING]

According to Jim,
I shouldn't even know about this game, since it ain't happenin' for a while.
A game that certainly hyped me up for SONY future. Nonsensical.

[HEADING=3]List of 2013 Launch Titles?[/HEADING]
There are like 3 launch exclusives set for SONY, and about the same for Microsoft, which Jim knows, so this argument doesn't even make sense! Three (SONY Exclusives) + four (3rd Party Titles) for Nov - Dec? Sounds perfectly reasonable.

And Wii U had the opposite problem, so what is Jim blabbering about?

[HEADING=3]E3[/HEADING]

E3 is the largest event in the industry for press, online-viewership, etc... It would be incredibly foolish for any console, publisher or developer to withhold content about a game in development. They need the public's support: some viewers will subscribe to developer twitter feeds for games that they liked, others will bookmark title-sites -- this Industry needs a consistent following of fans, who will maintain interest over the next year.

[HEADING=3]Jim is spouting off on a crisis that doesn't even exist.[/HEADING]

Wow, two strawmen at once, impressive. About E3 first because that was the dumber of the strawmen: Jim never fucking said anything about you knowing information. Everything he said was about RELEASE SCHEDULE, not E3 disclosure. What you said isn't even fucking relevant to what he said.

As for the first strawman :Where did he say that there was a large launch lineup for PS4 and XBone? He said it was a problem for the vita and the wiiU and that it is not good that we demand it.

 

[JarinArenos]

Exactly. Jim pointedly said he hoped the XBone and the PS4 learned from those other consoles failures, implying that they had yet to make the same mistake. This was not about attacking [insert your fanboy console here], it was about a warning to the industry... before it's too late.

Thank God for Jim, indeed.

 

[Nazulu]

I thought that was obvious. The reason so many people loved the classic Nintendo consoles up to the Gamecube is because there were so many great games on them, not just games but great games, that I'm sure most of you have heard of and even played.

 

[Adon Cabre]

[HEADING=1]Stragegos[/HEADING]

According to Jim,
I shouldn't even know about this game, since it ain't happenin' for a while.
A game that certainly hyped me up for SONY future. Nonsensical.

[HEADING=3]List of 2013 Launch Titles?[/HEADING]
There are like 3 launch exclusives set for SONY, and about the same for Microsoft, which Jim knows, so this argument doesn't even make sense! Three (SONY Exclusives) + four (3rd Party Titles) for Nov - Dec? Sounds perfectly reasonable.

And Wii U had the opposite problem, so what is Jim blabbering about?

[HEADING=3]E3[/HEADING]

E3 is the largest event in the industry for press, online-viewership, etc... It would be incredibly foolish for any console, publisher or developer to withhold content about a game in development. They need the public's support: some viewers will subscribe to developer twitter feeds for games that they liked, others will bookmark title-sites -- this Industry needs a consistent following of fans, who will maintain interest over the next year.

[HEADING=3]Jim is spouting off on a crisis that doesn't even exist.[/HEADING]

Wow, two strawmen at once, impressive. About E3 first because that was the dumber of the strawmen: Jim never fucking said anything about you knowing information. Everything he said was about RELEASE SCHEDULE, not E3 disclosure. What you said isn't even fucking relevant to what he said.

As for the first strawman :Where did he say that there was a large launch lineup for PS4 and XBone? He said it was a problem for the vita and the wiiU and that it is not good that we demand it.

[HEADING=3]Here is Jim's erroneous argument[/HEADING]

"We don't want a strong launch library (quantity), we really shouldn't want that. We should want a strong library (quality)."

[li]Fewer launch games = Quality Games/Awesome Library[/li]

The essence of his argument is an existential crisis, one that is far removed from the realities of this industry/economy.

Telling costumers to refuse more product for the sake of quality? It's the splurge on various titles that creates the niche genres, that creates a variety. Jim is accusing SONY and Microsoft of pushing out so many games at once, that many of these will be crap; but it's assumed that most of those exclusives and third party titles, won't even be released until late summer and fall of '14.

[HEADING=3]PS Vita & Wii U[/HEADING]
The Wii U isn't failing because of games, it's failing because no one even knows that it's a new console -- Wii U. Games can't fix something that no one knows exists. And no one knows that the Wii U exists because of its name and bad marketing.

The Wii was so successful because it was new and innovative, and marketed well. It sold 100 Million units to old people and young people, who bought a game or two, and then stored it in their closets indefinitely. (Why do think they rushed out the U? Software wasn't selling.) Nintendo took them all for granted, believing that they would just hop on the next console train, when in reality, very few of their consumers were actually casual gamers. Now the Wii U won't even see 30 Million units.

The PS Vita is also failing because of pricing and SONY's proprietary peripherals. The fact that a 32 GB SONY Prop memory card, their largest card, and the only card worth storing titles on, costs $89; thereby making the PS Vita nearly $400 outside the PS+ Account and, you know, games. Even more important, the hand-held market is extremely small outside of the DS.

It isn't hard for a consumer to add up their mobile devices; $200 Contract phone (mobile games) + $400 PS Vita (Better Mobile Games) = $600+ in their pockets. That's just not feasible for many.

[HEADING=3]Jim, being the media, is sensationalizing a crisis that doesn't exist; and you fell for it.[/HEADING]

What I'm saying is that there aren't even a lot of games en route to launch, and I haven't heard of anyone asking for more since E3; and that was 3 weeks ago.

 

[Adon Cabre]

Exactly. Jim pointedly said he hoped the XBone and the PS4 learned from those other consoles failures, implying that they had yet to make the same mistake. This was not about attacking [insert your fanboy console here], it was about a warning to the industry... before it's too late.

Thank God for Jim, indeed.

This would have been a great argument a year ago, but it makes no sense now that SONY and Microsoft have showed their hands in the game.

 

[JarinArenos]

This would have been a great argument a year ago, but it makes no sense now that SONY and Microsoft have showed their hands in the game.

Okay, I like Jim, but even I don't think he can see 8 months into the future to predict details about consoles that haven't been announced yet.

 

[mike1921]

[HEADING=1]Stragegos[/HEADING]

According to Jim,
I shouldn't even know about this game, since it ain't happenin' for a while.
A game that certainly hyped me up for SONY future. Nonsensical.

[HEADING=3]List of 2013 Launch Titles?[/HEADING]
There are like 3 launch exclusives set for SONY, and about the same for Microsoft, which Jim knows, so this argument doesn't even make sense! Three (SONY Exclusives) + four (3rd Party Titles) for Nov - Dec? Sounds perfectly reasonable.

And Wii U had the opposite problem, so what is Jim blabbering about?

[HEADING=3]E3[/HEADING]

E3 is the largest event in the industry for press, online-viewership, etc... It would be incredibly foolish for any console, publisher or developer to withhold content about a game in development. They need the public's support: some viewers will subscribe to developer twitter feeds for games that they liked, others will bookmark title-sites -- this Industry needs a consistent following of fans, who will maintain interest over the next year.

[HEADING=3]Jim is spouting off on a crisis that doesn't even exist.[/HEADING]

Wow, two strawmen at once, impressive. About E3 first because that was the dumber of the strawmen: Jim never fucking said anything about you knowing information. Everything he said was about RELEASE SCHEDULE, not E3 disclosure. What you said isn't even fucking relevant to what he said.

As for the first strawman :Where did he say that there was a large launch lineup for PS4 and XBone? He said it was a problem for the vita and the wiiU and that it is not good that we demand it.

[HEADING=3]Here is Jim's erroneous argument[/HEADING]

"We don't want a strong launch library (quantity), we really shouldn't want that. We should want a strong library (quality)."

[li]Fewer launch games = Quality Games/Awesome Library[/li]

The essence of his argument is an existential crisis, one that is far removed from the realities of this industry/economy.

Telling costumers to refuse more product for the sake of quality? It's the splurge on various titles that creates the niche genres, that creates a variety. Jim is accusing SONY and Microsoft of pushing out so many games at once, that many of these will be crap;

What the fuck are you talking about? He didn't even mention Microsoft once. He didn't mention the PS4 once. And the vast majority of footage was of the vita and the wiiU.

[HEADING=3]PS Vita & Wii U[/HEADING]
The Wii U isn't failing because of games, it's failing because no one even knows that it's a new console -- Wii U. Games can't fix something that no one knows exists. And no one knows that the Wii U exists because of its name and bad marketing.

The Wii was so successful because it was new and innovative, and marketed well. It sold 100 Million units to old people and young people, who bought a game or two, and then stored it in their closets indefinitely. (Why do think they rushed out the U? Software wasn't selling.) Nintendo took them all for granted, believing that they would just hop on the next console train, when in reality, very few of their consumers were actually casual gamers. Now the Wii U won't even see 30 Million units.

Wii's attachment rate was fine, they probably rushed out the console because having a year lead on competition hypothetically should've gotten consoles in doors. and if they had a good library they'd be doing fine on the backs of less-casual gamers. Normal gamers know the wiiU exists, but why would we buy it? I honestly don't think wii lightning was going to strike twice no matter how well they market it.

The PS Vita is also failing because of pricing and SONY's proprietary peripherals. The fact that a 32 GB SONY Prop memory card, their largest card, and the only card worth storing titles on, costs $89; thereby making the PS Vita nearly $400 outside the PS+ Account and, you know, games. Even more important, the hand-held market is extremely small outside of the DS.

I doubt many people even look into the storage before buying a handheld, although that is a shitty practice. $250 for a handheld sounds perfectly reasonable to me if it didn't feel like I'd be buying it for 2 games. also, $90 plus $250+$90 is fairly short of $400 don't you think? You don't get to round up when you're not even halfway there.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

For me it's kind of an odd situation. I normally don't day 1 buy a console. Infact I don't think I ever have. I've always waited for a stronger lineup. Especially these days I'm even more picky about what I play.

On one hand, no one wants to buy a console where they have nothing they want to play in it's library.

Truth be told, I think a lot of the burden could have been alleviated with reverse compatibility. It allows a buffer for the transition from one console to another, and creates an artificial launch library, sorta since it's not like the PS3 and 360's libraries stopped growing the instant new consoles are released. I'm pretty sure a lot of consoles had releases well into their descendent's time. PS2 did, IIRC.

Sure later in the life span of a generation, reverse compatibility becomes less of an issue for some.
I'm not one of that some, though. I still have my ps2 hooked up, and play it some while I have a ps3. Sometimes I play ps1 games on my ps3.

I do agree that rushed games are bad, and it gets bad towards the holidays, and with console releases, though.

Meh, enough rambling.

 

[daxterx2005]

you should have used Andy Samberg for the thumbnail, just saying.

 

[Dragonbums]

For me it's kind of an odd situation. I normally don't day 1 buy a console. Infact I don't think I ever have. I've always waited for a stronger lineup. Especially these days I'm even more picky about what I play.

On one hand, no one wants to buy a console where they have nothing they want to play in it's library.

Truth be told, I think a lot of the burden could have been alleviated with reverse compatibility. It allows a buffer for the transition from one console to another, and creates an artificial launch library, sorta since it's not like the PS3 and 360's libraries stopped growing the instant new consoles are released. I'm pretty sure a lot of consoles had releases well into their descendent's time. PS2 did, IIRC.

Sure later in the life span of a generation, reverse compatibility becomes less of an issue for some.
I'm not one of that some, though. I still have my ps2 hooked up, and play it some while I have a ps3. Sometimes I play ps1 games on my ps3.

I do agree that rushed games are bad, and it gets bad towards the holidays, and with console releases, though.

Meh, enough rambling.

Yeah, but the WiiU having Backwards Compatibility didn't save it from people complaining about the lack of games in the coming months.
Nor did it help the 3DS.